REMOVING KNOCK OFF SPINNERS

I always do it with wheels on the ground too. What is the rationale behind the advice you have received?

 

My respect for Isaac Newton will be even greater now that I know he drove a Ferrari.

Seriously, that sounds rather esoteric to me. I don't think I shall be changing the habit of a lifetime any day soon.

 

Steve; I will take a shot at your question. First, the Halibrand style knock-off on your Cobra uses a different system to secure the wheel to the hub. Technically, it is inferior to the Rudge system used by Ferrari. On the Ferrari, I have always tightened the knock-off till the wheel will no longer "rock" on the hub with the car in the air. Then the final tightening is done with the car on the ground. The reason for this is the chance of wheel bearing damage. With the car in the air, all the "blow" of the hammer is applied directly to the wheel bearings. Yes, I have seen wheel bearings damaged by hammer blows. As for the Halibrand system, it requires the knock-offs to be much tighter than the Rudge system, and you want them tighter before you lower the car to the ground and do the final tightening. However, the final blows from the hammer should still be done with the car on the ground. Rudge knock-offs are designed to tighten by themselves under usage (we see it normally in the race cars, as we mark every knock-off after tightening, I do this on street cars also just to be safe). Of note, some Lotus cars use the Rudge system but the knock-off tightens the OTHER direction. It seems Chapman felt his cars could generate greater brake torque than acceleration torque, so he wanted the knock-offs to self-tighten under braking, not acceleration. This seems to work on the low powered, light weight Lotus's. One final comment, the Halibrand style knock-offs need to be very tight when used on race cars. Otherwise, they WILL come loose, don't ask how I know this. And one more comment, I am not a fan of the "torque wrench" knock-off tools. In my experience, even at 375-400 lb/ft, they do not tighten the knock-off enough to be safe for spirited driving. After using the "torque wrench" tool, you can easily further tighten the knock-off with a dead blow or lead hammer. Just my thoughts.

 

I just crack loose my spinners (or lug nuts on regular wheels), then jack the car to undo them and remove. Same thing going back on... tighten as much as possible while jacked up, then snug up a little more when back on the ground.

 

Thanks Dyke. I do mine as you said just out of intuition. I am glad to hear that the people in the know do it this way. I started using a socket years ago, only because in the beginning I slipped a couple of times and hit the rim. It’s a three-quarter driver with a 30 inch lever. I lean on it till it feels like it hits a stop. Any opinion on this method? Thanks in advance.

john

 

to remove there is no need to put the wheel in the air. only when you tight them

 

I use a 1 " socket, so I not need an adapter for the torque wrench
put on also some anti-seize, but only a very little between the 2 cones, but a little more on the interlocking ( right word? )

 

Steve: For street usage, I use a 3.25 lb. dead blow hammer, and we use lead hammers on the race cars. I use grease, but anti-seize should work just as well. I do use anti-seize on standard lug nuts. I would recommend marking the nut and the wheel hub with a magic marker after the wheel is tight. It provides cheap insurance that can be checked before driving to make sure nothing is coming loose.

 

"threads" (the threaded end of the hub and the threaded mating surface inside the knock-off).

 

I was told by Tom S. to never use anti seize on knock offs.........only a light swipe of grease on the hub thread.